Baby Showers

With three baby showers in two week's time, I realized I didn't have a baby card anywhere (and if you could see my stash of cards you would wonder how that could happen). I guess I just don't make baby cards very often and so I use them up faster than I restock them. So with that, it was time to make some baby cards.

Here's the result. Sorry to Erin, Jen or Gina if I spoiled the surprise of your baby cards! I used the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge to cut the circle cards and the circles and then I went to work. Love these little people from the Baby Love stamp set.

Here's a close up of the boy card.

And a close up of the girl card.

And speaking of babies, I've been babysitting this one for the last week.

Before you let that cute little goldendoodle face suck you in, take a look at my favorite pair of sandals.

She's a flower eating monster. If she wasn't so stinkin' cute....

Chocolate Words of Wisdom

In a Dove Chocolate, my daughter found the following sentiment, "Calories only exist if you count them." I took it as a sign and had an extra cupcake. Who's counting?

A "Wicked" Rose

Yesterday was my Close to My Heart open house. For the make and take, we made a card featuring the Stamp of the Month set, Wicked. We started out using the new Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge, exclusive to Close to My Heart. From Sunset cardstock, I cut one of these:

 In the "olden" days, I had to cut a spiral from a piece of cardstock to create a rose. No more!

 I then stamped the honeycomb pattern from the Wicked Stamp of the Month set in black ink on the flower.

Spiral the rose from the outside to the center. Add a glue dot and adhere the inside circle to the bottom of the flower. (OK, a hand model I am not).

I gently rolled the petals of the rose back to flatten it out a bit and there you go!

 Here is the final result. I think it turned out rather well if I do say so myself.

And don't forget that this month, if you buy $50 in Close to My Heart product, you can purchase the Wicked Stamp of the Month set for just $5.00. As an added bonus, you get A Typeface for free. Spend an additional $25.00 for a total of $80.00 and get the National Stamping Month Set, Pair a Phrase, (the equivalent of two D size sets) free! You can get Pair a Phrase free with a $75.00 purchase through the month of September but why not get the stamp of the month and the A Typeface stamping set at the same time during August?

Happy Stamping and Scrapping all!

Cherish Your Memories

Many of you reading my blog are already familiar with my monthly Cherish Your Memories scrapbook nights. I hold them three nights a month.You order the paper kit from me in advance, the accessories can be purchased by the piece that night, and you end up with four beautiful scrapbook pages. It's a great way to get some scrapbooking done each month and we have a LOT of fun.

I was almost hesitant to post this month's pages (we're actually doing two paper packets this month) because these paper packets were discontinued July 31st when we transitioned from the Spring/Summer idea book to the Fall/Winter idea book. But I did want you to have a chance to see the pages and to get a sampling of what my Cherish Your Memories night is all about. If you are interested in joining me in September (we'll be playing with the Roxie kit), just give me a call or shoot me an email and I'll make sure to have a kit ready for you. I'll post those pages as September gets closer but for now, here's August's pages, featuring the Bliss paper kit and the Miracle paper kit. I hope they inspire you.

Bliss--Inspired by Diana Veenendaal

Close up of the flowers--love the Shimmer brads

Second Bliss layout--created by Ginni Candelaria

Close up of the Irrestibles Eclectic Alphabet. The patterns reveal when sponged.

Miracle--by Adina Godin.  Love that Eclectic Alphabet!

Close up of the flower with a canvas badge button in the middle.

Second set of Miracle pages--quick and simple.

A Winter Wonderland in August

I have been playing with new stuff from the latest Close to My Heart Catalog for a swap with friends. I was working with the new Wonderland kit, which is, well..., wintery. In August, winter is far from my mind. Not only that, but some of my swap friends live in Texas where snow just doesn't exist. So I took it as a challenge. Can I take a wintery kit like Wonderland and make it non-wintery? What do you think? Did I succeed?

Here is a little close up. I love the way our Opagues Gems add a little extra.

 I used our new Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge to create the background for the Party Pennants and the circles that I stamped Childhood Portrait on.

Considering that some of this beautiful paper did have snowflakes, I did put together some wintery cards. Again, my Cricut Art Philosophy came in handy for the snowflakes and the doily. All of these cards used the stamp set included with the Wonderland Workshop on the Go kit which is a great way to go it you love this paper packet as you get paper, accessories, a stamp set and full instructions for creating some pretty wonderful pages.

Here is a close up of my favorite card. This one was so simple and fast. I cut the circle cards, the circle and the snowflakes using the Cricut Art Philosophy. And then I used the zip strip from the background paper and sponged just a bit. I barely got my hands inky!

I have many more samples to come. Don't forget about my open house on Saturday, August 13th from 12:00 to 2:00 as I'll have these and many more ideas there to see.

And now, to inspire you further, I joined a blog hop sponsored by the Fabulous Tresa Black. I follow this artist's blog, www.fabulouslyartsy.com, faithfully. She is so creatively clever! And so here are some links to her artwork and many others to show you some of the other wonderful ideas created with product from the new Close to My Heart Fall/Winter 2011 Idea Book. Enjoy!

New Close to My Heart Idea Book Goes Live Today!

Every six months, I get a creative boost (more like a creative punch in the face!) when the new Close to My Heart catalog arrives. And it's here and it's beautiful!

I can't even begin to tell you what I love the most. The papers are gorgeous, the stamp sets are great (check out the August stamp of the Month, Wicked!), the accessories are always must haves. The Cricut bundle, Art Philosophy, is probably high on my list of great new products (see the video). But I think probably my favorite part of the catalog this year is that CTMH has dropped the prices on their stamp sets and paper packets. The quality has not changed and everything is still amazingly beautiful and inspiring. I think they understand that we've all had to stretch our budgets a bit farther and so they are doing their part to help us enjoy this amazing paper crafting hobby of ours without guilt.

So check the catalog out! And mark your calendars for Saturday, August 13th from 12:00 to 2:00 for my open house. I'm already spending every spare moment playing with products to have lots of great new ideas to share with all of you. There will be a hands on project, a Studio J demonstration, lots of great new products and ideas to see, something yummy to munch on and giveaways a plenty (we all love giveaways, right?!). So RSVP to me and I'll see you on the 13th.

In parting, check out the August Stamp of the Month, Wicked. For you Halloween fans, this is a must have. And what's more, CTMH is making it irresistible. Spend $50.00 in August and the stamp of the month is yours for just $5.00. What's more, you'll get a free exclusive font stamp set, A Typeface, as an additional bonus. That's a wicked deal!